Mix and Mingle
by MariaClaire
Summary: When the architectural firm where Annabeth is an intern hosts a party, she invites Percy to go with her. Percy is used to fighting monsters, but accompanying Annabeth to a fancy party is an entirely new type of challenge.


*****In the Staff of Serapis ****short story, Annabeth mentions that she'd interviewed for an internship at an architecture firm. She thinks the interview went badly, but let's pretend that's just her being too hard on herself. For the purposes of this story, she got the job and has been spending her spring semester interning with a firm after school a few days a week. This story was also very much inspired by Ed Sheeran's song "I Don't Care," which totally felt like what Percy's attitude would be if he had to go to a work-type party with Annabeth. Rated T for some mild language and innuendo.*****

* * *

Wearing a tie sucked. Percy tugged on the knot morosely, wondering which of the gods he could blame for inventing it. He hated having something so tight around his neck—it felt like he was about to be strangled. _I'm here for Annabeth_, he reminded himself. But as much as he loved his girlfriend, Percy would have really preferred to be home playing video games, or going out to dinner and a movie with only Annabeth.

Instead, he was spending this particular Saturday evening in late February at a formal party on the Upper West Side. The architectural firm where Annabeth was an intern was hosting what they called a "mix and mingle". As far as Percy could tell, that was code for a stuffy party in a fancy and way too warm brownstone. According to Annabeth, it was the home of one of the firm's principal architects. She'd chattered Percy's ear off on the way over, like she did sometimes when she was nervous, filling him in on everyone who was supposed to be present tonight. Apparently a lot of important people on whom she wanted to make a good impression. Which was why, two weeks ago when she'd told him about it, he'd asked, "Are you _sure _you want me to go? I don't want to, you know, say something dumb in front of your boss and embarrass you."

"You won't." Annabeth had fixed him with a pleading look. "Percy, please? I'll feel a lot better if you're there with me."

How could he say no? So he'd relented and agreed to come along. Which meant now he was standing with his back against the richly paneled wall, bored out of his mind and trying not to sweat through his dress shirt. It was a blue button-down shirt Annabeth had told him she liked when he'd worn it on a date a couple months ago. His mom had been the one to insist he add the light gray tie. And nice pants. And shoes that weren't sneakers. Which all meant Percy wasn't really feeling like himself. That made him a bit grumpy.

Although he _had _been glad his mom forced him to dress up when Annabeth came to the door (normally he would have picked her up, but she'd insisted it was fine since his Upper East Side apartment was closer to the party than her dorm was). Her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, she'd put on makeup, and she was wearing a silver-grey blouse, a simple black skirt, and some type of fancy shoes. Percy figured he could count on one hand the times he'd seen Annabeth in a skirt or dress. It was close to the number of times he'd worn a tie.

She looked stunning. He told her so and was rewarded with a brilliant smile that sent his heart skittering out of control. Even now, when she was standing halfway across the room talking to someone, the top she was wearing highlighted her eyes in a way that made it impossible for Percy to keep his own eyes off her. Especially with the way she was talking animatedly to the older guy she was having a conversation with. Not that Percy was jealous—the dude had to be almost sixty. Some higher up at the firm maybe? Percy wasn't sure. He suppressed a sigh, eyes flickering around the rest of the crowded living room. It was seriously the fanciest place he'd ever been, except for maybe Olympus. All the furniture was ornate, there were expensive-looking paintings hanging on the walls, a massive fireplace containing a roaring fire that was probably contributing to the heat issue, a grand piano (_seriously?_ Percy thought) standing in the corner, and in the entrance hall hung an actual freaking chandelier. He could just see it peeking through the living room's thrown open double doors. As Percy watched, he noticed a few people walking in from another room with drinks and small plates of food in their hands. That looked slightly more like his area of expertise. Plus, his stomach was rumbling, since he hadn't eaten dinner before leaving for the party.

Pushing himself away from the wall, Percy wove his way through the crowd and over to Annabeth. He caught the end of her conversation as she said, "—a small private university, but they have a reciprocal agreement with UC Berkeley, so I'll be taking classes there, too."

The man nodded. He had steady blue eyes crinkled with laugh lines. "That's an excellent program. What type of work did you showcase in your submission portfolio?"

Percy knew perfectly well that once his girlfriend launched into _that _topic, he'd never have a chance to jump in. So, as she opened her mouth, he rested his hand on her back and said quickly, "Sorry to interrupt. But I was going to get a drink. Do you want anything?"

Annabeth looked pleasantly surprised. "Sure. Anything is fine. Thanks." Then she turned back to the older man. Percy expected her to jump into the explanation of her portfolio and started to sidle away, but instead Annabeth grabbed his hand, keeping him beside her. "Mr. Hollis, this is my boyfriend, Percy Jackson. Percy, Mr. Hollis is the lead design supervisor for my department. I mean, the department where I'm doing my internship."

"Nice to meet you," Mr. Hollis said, holding out his hand. Percy shook it. "I take it you'll be graduating in a few months as well?" When Percy nodded, the man asked, "Have you decided on a college yet?"

"The same small private school as Annabeth." Percy squeezed her hand.

"Do you have a major in mind?" Mr. Hollis took a sip from the drink in his hand.

"I'm considering marine biology, maybe focusing on conservation," Percy said. He glanced again at the smile lines crinkling the corners of the man's eyes and decided to take a risk. "Or surfing. If they let me."

Truthfully, he expected Annabeth to kick him in the shin, or at least shoot him a dirty look for joking around. Instead, the corners of her mouth quirked up in a tiny smile. Mr. Hollis actually laughed out loud, a deep, genuine belly laugh.

"Cheers, Mr. Jackson." He raised his glass to Percy and winked. "Life is short. I recommend choosing surfing."

"I'll keep that in mind," Percy said with a smile. "It was nice to meet you, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better go grab those drinks. You were just talking about your portfolio when I interrupted, right?" Annabeth gave him a grateful look as he slipped away, leaving her to regale Mr. Hollis with the intricate details of her carefully crafted portfolio.

Percy casually observed the crowd as he wandered down the hall toward the dining room, where the bar and buffet were set up. No monsters, thankfully, or at least no obvious ones. That was a welcome change. Most of the guests were adults in their forties and fifties, but he spotted a few younger-ish people, including several other teenagers hanging around. Probably the other interns. But since Percy hadn't met any of them yet, he stayed on his course to the buffet.

The food was amazing. That was at least one highlight of the party. Percy loaded up a tiny plate with tiny food, then headed over to the bar.

Soda apparently wasn't fancy enough for this party because the bartender gave Percy a very blank look when he asked for two Cokes. The only non-alcoholic beverages available were ginger ale and sparkling cider. Since ginger ale was normally what Percy ended up drinking when he had stomach flu, he opted for two glasses of the sparkling cider.

While he was waiting for the bartender to pour the drinks, a guy came up to lean on the bar beside him. He looked maybe eighteen, but Percy didn't pay much attention until the guy said, "You're not another one of the interns, are you?"

"Uh, no." Percy glanced over at the guy. Polished. That was the first word that came to mind. Impeccable hair, perfectly pressed clothes, and too white teeth. But somehow his smile reminded Percy uneasily of Octavian, the former Roman augur. There was something cold and calculating hovering behind the friendly veneer. "My girlfriend is, though."

"Oh yeah?" The guy casually tapped the bar, and the bartender paused what he was doing to quickly make him what looked like a scotch. Or a brandy. Or a whiskey. Something like that. Percy didn't really pay attention to alcohol. He must have looked surprised, though, since the guy's smile twisted slightly. "Hey, it's a party, right? Anyway, which one is your girlfriend?"

Something about the way he said that raised Percy's hackles, but he forced himself to stay polite. "Annabeth Chase."

"Oh yeah?" the guy said again, but now his gaze became appraising as he looked Percy up and down, which did nothing to lessen his annoyance. Then, the guy took a long swig of his drink and shrugged. "Good for you, man. She's hot."

_You will not punch someone at this party. That won't help Annabeth._ Keeping his voice steady, Percy said, "She's also incredibly intelligent. And an amazing architect."

"Sure," the guy said carelessly. "Anyway, enjoy the party, man." He clapped Percy condescendingly on the back as he sauntered away into the crowd.

Percy seethed for a moment, thinking of several unflattering nicknames for the guy. The bartender shot him a sympathetic look as he passed Percy his drinks. Percy thanked him and took the drinks, ready to find Annabeth again.

Conveniently, the drinks came in champagne flutes, which were easy to carry in one hand so he could balance his plate in the other. He maneuvered his way carefully through the crowd, which seemed to be growing. The noise of chatter now all but drowned out the light jazz music drifting through the house. Percy drew in a deep breath. _I am here for Annabeth. Now where the heck is she?_

He found her standing near one of the massive windows in the living room. He actually spotted her from the doorway before she saw him. Gods, she looked gorgeous. Light from the fire highlighted her hair, making it almost glow. But she was alone at the moment, and as he watched, she reached up like she was going to fiddle with the beads on her camp necklace. Only she hadn't worn it. When her fingers met empty air, she hesitated, then smoothed her palm across her skirt instead. Affection warmed Percy's chest, and he zigzagged through the crowd as quickly as he could. Annabeth's face lit up when she saw him.

"Brought your drink," he said, handing her one of the glasses.

"Champagne?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Nah, sparkling grape juice or something. They didn't have Coke. Apparently I'm the only barbarian here."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, you're a very handsome barbarian. Seriously, you look really nice tonight, Percy. I can't believe you wore a tie."

"Anything for you." He returned her smile, then admitted, "Also, my mom kind of made me."

"Remind me to thank her."

They stayed by the window for a few minutes, nibbling on the plate of snacks while Annabeth quietly pointed people out to Percy. She'd mentioned a lot of them since she'd started this internship almost two months ago, so it was nice to put faces to the names. He was also happy just to have her to himself for a minute. Then, he spotted the obnoxious guy from the bar leaning nonchalantly against the doorway. Was it just Percy's imagination or did the guy's eyes keep drifting over to where he and Annabeth were standing?

"Hey, who is that?" Percy asked, with just the barest glance in the dude's direction.

Annabeth didn't even appear to look over. "You mean the arrogant jerk standing in the doorway like he owns the place?"

"That's the one."

She wrinkled her nose. "That's Marshall. He's an intern, too, but his dad is also one of the firm's principals. Principal architect," she explained, when Percy must have looked confused. "So Marshall thinks he's the king of the interns. And his work is sub-par at best."

"How come you've never mentioned him?" Percy asked.

"Because I don't like to think about him outside of work." Annabeth hesitated, then said, "He keeps hitting on me. It's really obnoxious. I've told him I'm not interested, and that I have a boyfriend, multiple times, but he won't stop. Finally, when it happened again yesterday, I told him if he tried to ask me out one more time I was going to break his nose. Then I stomped on his foot, just to make sure we were clear."

Percy slowly grinned. "You're awesome, you know that?"

"Thank you." Annabeth plucked a chocolate-covered strawberry off the plate in Percy's hand. "What made you ask about him?"

"Because I ran into him at the bar." Percy gave her a brief rundown on the conversation.

When he finished, Annabeth said, with a tiny smile, "You told him I'm intelligent and a great architect?"

"Incredibly intelligent and an amazing architect," Percy corrected. "Because it's true. Besides, I know you're hot, I don't need some random guy telling me that."

Annabeth studied him for a moment, then kissed his cheek. She started to speak, but her gaze fell on something behind Percy and her mouth dropped open. He tensed, half expecting a monster, but when he looked over his shoulder, he realized Annabeth was staring at a petite woman with dark hair who had just stepped through the door. Marshall immediately straightened and lost no time in greeting the woman, a sycophantic smile plastered across his face.

"Oh my gods, Percy," Annabeth whispered, clutching his arm. "That's Renata Montgomery. She's one of the founders of the firm. And her designs are _incredible_. I didn't think she'd be here."

"You should go say hi," Percy suggested.

"What?" Annabeth looked scandalized. "No, I can't do that. Like just walk over there?"

"Why not? Isn't that the whole point of this mix and mingle thing?" Percy set their empty glasses and plate down on a nearby side table, then took her hand. "Annabeth, you're the official architect of _Olympus_. You can go introduce yourself to the founder of the firm."

Annabeth hesitated, thinking, her eyes following Renata Montgomery as the woman politely listened to whatever that Marshall guy was blabbing about. Then, she breathed out. "Okay, fine. But you're coming with me." Percy tried to protest, but she tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him with her as she marched across the room like she was marching across a battlefield.

As they approached, they overheard Renata Montgomery say, "That sounds like an interesting design concept, Marshall. If you complete the sketches, I'd recommend sharing it with your supervisor. Oh, and if you see your father, could you tell him to come find me? We need to go over some details for the Grant building."

Marshall frowned, as if understanding he'd been dismissed, then hauled a smile back onto his face. "Of course, Ms. Montgomery. I'll let him know." He glanced at Annabeth with narrowed eyes, then gave Percy another appraising look, before slipping away into the increasingly packed hall.

"Hello, Ms. Montgomery," Annabeth said cautiously. When the woman turned to her with a polite smile, she said, "Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm one of the interns, Annabeth—"

"Chase, of course." Renata Montgomery's smile became warmer and more genuine. "Raymond Hollis was just telling me the other day about how you helped with the designs for the atrium at the new hotel."

"He was?" Annabeth looked astonished.

"Yes. Very creative. I like to see someone thinking outside the box a bit."

"Th-thank you," Annabeth stammered.

"You're welcome." The woman turned to Percy and held out a hand. "I don't believe we've met."

Percy shook her hand as Annabeth said, "Sorry. Ms. Montgomery, this is my boyfriend, Percy Jackson."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jackson. Are you an architecture student as well?"

"No, ma'am." Percy smiled at his girlfriend. "That's all Annabeth. She's the one with the knowledge and the passion for it."

"Good to know," Ms. Montgomery said. She turned back to Annabeth. "So, Miss Chase, what made you apply for the internship at our firm?"

"Well, I really admire the environmental elements you incorporate into your designs and the types of projects you work on…"

Percy's attention drifted as the conversation moved into the nuances of architectural design. But Annabeth didn't let go of his hand, so he stayed by her side.

After a few minutes, an older man with salt-and-pepper hair like Paul's came up to their group, grinning brightly. "Renata! I see you've met our brightest intern."

"Hello, Mark," Ms. Montgomery said. "Yes, I've just been having an insightful conversation here with Miss Chase."

As Renata Montgomery and the man—Mark—greeted each other, Annabeth leaned closer to Percy to whisper, "Mark Solomon, my supervisor."

Percy nodded. This guy he'd definitely heard of. Annabeth spoke about him often. She was really enjoying working for him, loved his feedback on her designs, and occasionally talked about him with a semi-googly eyed look that reminded Percy vaguely of the way she'd stared at Tiberius/Gregory Peck back in Rome last summer. His train of thought was interrupted when Renata Montgomery excused herself, saying, "It was very nice to finally meet you, Miss Chase. And you as well, Mr. Jackson. Enjoy the party. Mark, I'll see you at Monday's meeting. Remind me to mention the updates to the hotel timeline." With that, she strode off into the crowd.

"Glad you could make it tonight, Annabeth," Mark Solomon said, turning to her with a smile. Then he looked at Percy and his smile widened. "And this must be the famous boyfriend!"

Annabeth nodded. "Mark, this is Percy."

Mark shook Percy's hand warmly, while Percy was still trying to figure out why the man had called him the "famous" boyfriend. No one at the firm knew that he and Annabeth were demigods. But his confusion was cleared up quickly when Mark continued speaking. "I've heard quite a bit about you from this young lady. Especially since, as I understand it, you were the inspiration for her incredible fountain designs."

"I was—what?" Percy looked over at Annabeth. A faint blush was creeping up her cheeks.

"Oh, um, I was going to tell you once it was all done," she muttered.

"Whoops." Mark held up his hands. "Sorry to spoil the surprise, Annabeth."

"That's okay." She took a deep breath. "So the firm got the bid for this really elaborate hotel, with a huge atrium for the lobby. It's going to be amazing, all glass and light. Renata Montgomery actually did most of the designs. But they offered an opportunity for the interns to get involved, too. They wanted some type of central fixture for the atrium, like a focal point, right, Mark?"

"Exactly." Mark beamed at Annabeth like a proud teacher. "All our interns turned in design suggestions, and Annabeth's was chosen. She really understood what the design called for, with some creativity thrown in. I was very impressed."

"No surprise there," Percy said. "Annabeth's designs are always awesome."

Annabeth was definitely blushing now. "Thanks."

"So what was the design?" Percy prompted.

"Well, there was so much light and everything, I thought a fountain might be really cool," Annabeth said. "The water would catch the light, so it would sparkle, maybe even make rainbows when the sun hits just right. Plus, a fountain has movement, it's not just static, so it brings some liveliness to a space."

"And that is the exact thought process," Mark said, "which is going to make you an excellent architect."

"Thank you," Annabeth said, blushing again. "Anyway, I was really stuck on what the actual _design _of the fountain should be. I kept sketching all these Classical designs, with arches and columns and statues, but it just wasn't working. And I was getting really frustrated. But then, remember when we had those couple of random warm days last month, and I met you at the skate park? After I got back from Boston?"

"Oh yeah." Percy tried really hard not to smirk, since Annabeth's boss was standing right there. But that had been a good day.

Percy had gone to the skate park after school with a couple of guys from the swim team. Annabeth was going to meet him there later. The city was experiencing a rare January thaw, with temperatures dancing around fifty degrees. Percy had already ditched his sweatshirt. He was working on a new skateboarding trick, which included a flip, but every time he tried, his t-shirt kept flopping down, throwing him just slightly off balance. It wasn't really warm enough to take his shirt off, but he was kind of sweaty, and he really wanted to try the trick a few times without the shirt issue. It must have worked, because on his third try without his shirt, he nailed the trick.

"Yes!" He'd pumped his fist in the air while his buddies cheered. Then he'd caught sight of Annabeth standing about twenty feet away, watching him with a strange expression on her face. He tucked his skateboard under his arm and walked over, grinning. "Hey."

He leaned in to give her a peck on the lips, but she put a hand on his neck, pulling him into a much more intense kiss than he'd been prepared for. Not that this was a problem. At all. Not even when his friends wolf-whistled. Percy simply sent them a less-than-polite hand signal behind his back.

"Cool trick," Annabeth said when she stepped back. "Is that new?"

"Uh, yeah." Percy's brain was trying to catch back up with reality. "Yeah, I finally landed it. Are you in a rush, or do you care if I make a couple more runs?"

"I don't care," she shrugged. "I'm just going to make some sketches for my internship."

She'd sat cross-legged by the fence sketching while Percy made a few more runs through the park, trying out his new trick and landing it all but once. After he'd said good-bye to his friends, and put his shirt and sweatshirt back on, Annabeth had dragged him behind a massive oak tree. In the semi-privacy, she'd kissed him. Like _really _kissed him. The kind of kiss that left Percy feeling like his brain had melted into a puddle.

"Uh…what…huh," was all he could manage when she eventually pulled away.

"This is really dumb," Annabeth said softly, still pressed so close to him that he could feel her heartbeat thumping against his own. That wasn't helping to clear his head. "But when I first walked up, I thought, wow, that guy is hot. And then I thought, stop it, you have a boyfriend you're totally crazy about. And _then _I realized, oh my gods, that hot guy _is _my boyfriend I'm totally crazy about. Which reminded me that I get to do this." She kissed him again, a searing, fierce kiss, until Percy once again felt like his memory had been wiped of everything except Annabeth.

Now, at the party, he did his best to keep the memory off his face, but a flash of it must have peeked through, because he caught a brief mischievous glint in Annabeth's eyes, and she squeezed his hand before saying, "While we were at the park, I was looking at the different ramps and bowls and half-pipes and things and thinking about the forms, and the way they all curled up. Which reminded me, too, of the way waves rise up. And, of course, when I think about the ocean, I think of you because, um," she stumbled for a second, since, in front of her mortal boss, she couldn't exactly say Percy's father was Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, then said, "you really love the ocean and all. So I ended up designing this kind of abstract sculpture type of fountain, with all these upward swooping curls and designs, which should bring a sense of energy to the atrium. I was going to tell you about it once all the designs were finalized."

Percy was stunned. And really touched. He couldn't believe she'd designed something inspired by him. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, but standing here in a crowded room with her boss two feet away, all he said was, "That sounds really cool, Annabeth. I can't wait to see when it's done."

"Should be finished sometime next year," Mark said. "I'll make sure you get an invite to the grand opening, Annabeth. With a plus one, of course," he added with a nod to Percy. Someone called his name from across the room and Mark turned to look. He raised a hand at a man waving to him, then said, "Well, I'll leave you kids to enjoy the party. Nice to finally meet you, Percy. Annabeth, keep up the good work."

They stayed at the party for maybe another hour after the conversation with Mark. Annabeth introduced him to the other interns, most of whom were much friendlier than Marshall. He liked meeting the people Annabeth had been telling him about. But after a while, Percy started to lose the thread of the conversation, and not just because it was about architecture and work politics he didn't understand. It was hard to stand around and make small talk with people. Not as hard as fighting a monster, maybe, but it still wasn't Percy's preferred choice of a way to spend the evening. So when Annabeth stifled a yawn, then leaned against him and whispered, "I think I'm ready to call it a night," he agreed enthusiastically.

While Annabeth said her good-byes to the other interns, Percy climbed the stairs up to the room where they'd stashed their coats. It was a little surprising that a place this fancy didn't have someone designated to handle and hang up coats, but whatever. Maybe they'd blown the budget on alcohol and jazz music. He dug his and Annabeth's coats out from halfway down the pile, then went ahead and put his on.

"Leaving so soon?" a voice drawled from the doorway.

Percy wasn't even surprised to see Marshall once again leaning in a doorway with his arms crossed. He didn't bother to answer the question and Marshall didn't seem to expect a response. He studied his nails, not looking at Percy, then said, "So, is it a problem for you?"

"Is what a problem?" Percy asked, fighting to keep his voice even.

Marshall looked up with a very nasty smile on his face. "The fact that your girlfriend is obviously blowing her boss. That's the only explanation for how she's been so successful, isn't it?"

Anger surged up like a tsunami. Through sheer willpower born of a lot of experience with conflicts, Percy held back the tide. It wasn't easy. But he wasn't an idiot. He understood exactly what game Marshall was playing by trying to bait him into a fight. No way was Percy giving this jerk the satisfaction of winning. Especially not if it would affect Annabeth's reputation at the firm. So instead of breaking the guy's jaw, like he really wanted to, Percy forced a laugh. It had the desired effect, as Marshall's eyebrows shot nearly into his hair. Percy snorted another laugh, then shook his head. "Word of advice, dude? Only a weak, insecure man is threatened by a smart, successful woman."

Starting from his neck and moving up, Marshall's face turned boiling red, like a thermometer in an old cartoon. He took a step into the room, pointing his finger at Percy. "You better watch yourself, Jackson. I can make life a living hell for your girlfriend. And for you."

Percy laughed again. He couldn't help it. This guy didn't even realize how outmatched he was. But he stopped laughing when Marshall took another step forward, clenching his fists. Percy didn't bother to step back, though. Instead, he straightened and leveled his wolf-stare at Marshall. On top of using it to make monsters and giants hesitate, he'd used it to make mortals far more threatening than this guy back off. "You could. But that would be a really bad idea. I know Annabeth already told you she'd break your nose if you tried hitting on her again. You're lucky that's all she threatened to break." Marshall sputtered something, but Percy wasn't done. "She doesn't need me to fight her battles, so I'm just going to reinforce the point here. If you bother her or cause problems for her, you will not like what happens next."

Marshall clenched his jaw. "Is that a threat?"

"That is absolutely a threat," Percy said calmly. He took a step forward and Marshall leaned away. "Just do your work, man. And let everybody else do theirs."

With that, he stepped around the guy and headed into the hall. Percy took a few deep breaths as he walked back down the stairs, but his hands were still shaking when he met Annabeth in the entrance hall.

"What's wrong?" she asked, reading his face the moment he reached her.

"That Marshall guy again," Percy said as he helped her into her coat. "He was just running his mouth, saying some horrible stuff about you. I didn't punch him," he added hastily when Annabeth shot him a look. "But it was close. I might have threatened him, though. Just a little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

"Uh, yeah. Basically just backing up what you told him the other day. I said he was lucky the only thing you threatened to break was his nose."

Annabeth bit her lip like she was fighting back a smile. "True. He has no idea who he's messing with, does he?"

"Not a clue." The look they shared made Percy feel better. They had faced way worse than one entitled, bratty mortal. And Percy had spent the entire night seeing how much all the important people here liked and respected Annabeth and her work. He wasn't worried. Besides, if it came down to it, his girlfriend had a wicked right hook. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Outside, the late February air was sharp and cold, and a little damp from a rainstorm earlier in the day. It felt great after being inside the overly warm, stuffy house. Percy inhaled deeply. The chilly air stung his lungs in a strangely refreshing way. There was the faintest underlying hint of warmth, promising that spring might not be too far away.

Annabeth took his arm, briefly resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for coming with me tonight, Seaweed Brain."

"No problem. It was kind of nice to meet all the people you've been talking about." He turned to press a light kiss to the top of her head. "And to hear about that fountain you designed."

She tilted her head up to smile at him. "Yeah, I was going to tell you about that once the blueprints were finalized. But it's okay."

"I can't believe I was your inspiration for something," Percy said, partly joking, but with something sincere hiding in his voice.

"At first, I was seriously stuck," Annabeth admitted. "Like, they announced that they wanted the interns to each design a possible central focal point for the atrium, and my mind went blank. But then, for some reason, I remembered when we were sitting by the canoe lake at camp, after we got back from Greece, and you were playing with the water, making it rise up and catch the light and all. So I thought, fountain. But at first I tried designing it like that one in front of Poseidon's temple on Olympus. You know, the one that he wanted based on the Trevi Fountain from Rome?"

Percy recalled the massive fountain anchoring the courtyard in front of his father's temple on Mount Olympus. "Oh yeah. That one is pretty elaborate."

Annabeth nodded. "And the style didn't really fit the rest of the hotel. Then I saw you skateboarding, and I was looking at the shapes in the skate park, then thinking about waves and the ocean, and yeah. It just went from there." She leaned into his arm playfully. "So thanks for the inspiration, babe."

"Happy to help." Percy grinned. "Especially when all I had to do was skateboard and play in the water."

Annabeth laughed. They strolled down another block in contented silence, before Percy remembered something else he'd wanted to ask.

"You mentioned the fountain making rainbows when the light catches it right. Was that intentional, too?"

"Maybe," she said casually, but her delighted smile told him she was thrilled he'd picked up on that. "I figured it was a chance to help out other demigods. The exact times will change a little depending on the season, but if they follow my designs correctly, there should be a couple times every morning and afternoon when it's possible to send an Iris-message. No worrying about how to make a rainbow. All anyone will need is a drachma."

"That's seriously awesome," Percy admitted. He glanced sideways at his girlfriend. "You're a genius, you know that?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, it seemed like an opportunity to help other demigods. The hotel is going to be in New York City, so it's close enough to camp that if someone needed help or an emergency pick-up, they could get it, as long as they can place the call."

"And hopefully the Mist will cover up anything too weird."

"Yeah, I'm counting on that." Annabeth hesitated, then said, "I just thought it'd be nice, too, a way to make sure other people don't have to struggle quite as much as we did."

"Definitely," Percy agreed. "Seriously, Annabeth, I think that's a great idea."

"Thank you." Her lips were warm against his skin when she kissed his cheek. "You know, it's still early. On a Saturday night. And we're already dressed up. Want to go somewhere semi-nice and get some real dinner? Maybe a place with great burgers? Just you and me?"

"Yes!" Percy groaned dramatically. "That's seriously all I've wanted all night. It's like you read my mind. How do you always do that?"

Annabeth stopped walking. Percy had half a moment to wonder why before she draped her arms around his neck and asked, "Do I even have to say it?"

"Nope." Percy couldn't wait any longer. He pulled her closer and kissed her. He was glad he'd gone with her to the party, glad he could offer his support in a way that didn't require using Riptide (although he had sort of threatened to punch a guy). It was nice to know they made a good team in the mortal world, too.

All in all, Percy thought, as Annabeth's fingers traced the nape of his neck, sending shivers rippling across his skin, it had been a pretty good night.

Even if he'd had to wear a tie.

* * *

*****Thanks so much to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed my stories this year! Special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave reviews—you guys are awesome and I really appreciate it! I have a couple more stories currently in progress, so hopefully there should be a few more updates in a couple of months. Hope everyone has a happy new year!*****


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